Vehicle interiors may generally include a number of trim elements in the form of injection-molded panels or inserts that are attached over various internal or structural components of the vehicle. Such panels may provide a finished appearance for the vehicle interior by covering the structural or internal components of the vehicle from view. Such panels are often attached to the structural vehicle element that they conceal, which may be achieved by one or more specifically-structured features of the panel that are integral with the side thereof opposite the visible surface. Such features may be of the type generally referred to as a “dog house,” which may define a multi-walled structure extending from a surface of the panel to contact the feature to which the panel is to be attached. Dog houses are generally configured to receive a mechanical fastener or to provide a surface on which adhesive can be applied to couple the dog house, and thus the panel, to the structural vehicle component.
Because the panels and various dog houses are integrally injection-molded in a single piece, part sink or read-through may occur in the area of dog houses, making their locations visible on the surface of the panel opposite the dog house, otherwise referred to as the “class-A” surface. This occurs because the molten plastic used to injection mold the panel shrinks as it cools. When the plastic forming the dog house shrinks, it pulls on the adjacent portion of the panel body, resulting in a depression on the opposite, class-A, surface, in a location that is visible to the customer.
Various modifications to dog house structures have been made in an effort to reduce read-though on finished part surfaces. In general, such modifications have involved thinning of the various walls of the dog house in an effort to reduce material. However, such thinning may weaken the structure of the dog house, adversely affecting the strength of the attachment to the associated structural vehicle element. Accordingly, further advances in such read through reduction are desired.